Treatment of textile fibers and product of same



Patented July 7, 1936 UNITED STATES TREATMENT OF TEXTILE FIBERS AND PRODUCT OF SAME Augustus n. Gill, Belmont, Mass assignor to The Gill Corporation, Cambridge, Mass a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Application August 30, 1933,

. Serial No. 687,516

4 Claims. (01. 1 46) This invention relates to the treatment of textile fibers of various kinds such as enter into the manufacture of woven, knitted, or felted fabrics, as well as to the product resulting from such treatment. It is the custom in manufacturing woven. or knitted wool and worsted fabrics.

to treat the-fiber serving as the starting material with various oleaginous compositions which serve as lubricants to facilitate the carding, comb- 10 ing, twisting, spinning, and weaving operationswhich the fiber undergoes. So, too, it is sometimes the practice to oil down the finished fabrics, for instance, woven or knitted woolen and worsted fabrics, cotton and linen fabrics, artificial and real silk fabrics, or other fabrics made from socalled textile fibers. Many of the most available and economical oils for the foregoing purposes are fatty acids or fatty acid glycerides of vegetable and animal origin which are characterized so by a measurable content of unsaturated fatty acids or fatty acid glycerides. These unsaturated fatty acids or fatty acid glycerides invariably give rise to difficulty either in the starting fiber or. in the finished goods. For instance, when aloose mass of wool or similar combustible fiber is oiled down preparatory to the'fabricating steps, V

-the fatty acid or fatty acid glycerides are prone to undergooxidation sufficiently rapidly to raise the, temperature of the massof fibers unduly, that is, to a. point where the mass is liable to spontaneous ignition and combustion. Besides this heating, gummy or resinous products are formed which cause unevenness when the fabric is dyed. and which are difiicult to remove therefrom or scour ou In the finished goods, the oils are valued because they impart to the goods such desirable qualities as softness, smoothness of feel, increased weight, etc., but here, too, their unsatu- 40- rated fatty acid or fatty acid glyceride content undergoes undesirable oxidation into resinous end products which may change the softness of the goods or cause foul odortherein. r v

In my Patent No. 1,791,057, datedFebruary 3, i931, I have disclosedthe value of adding'phenolic bodies to oils such as are applied in the conditioning of textile fibers for subsequent fabricating operations. As pointed out therein, the addition of a small amount ora phenolic body and more particularly hydroquinone inhibits oxidae tion in the oils when applied to textile fibers, and,

v accordingly, does .awaywith the danger of spontaneous ignitionand combustion of the fibers.

, I have found, however, that most of the phenols possess'some disadvantage when thus used. For

instance, hydroquinone which is mentioned as the illustrative phenol ,in my patent produces an undesirable pink coloration on scoured wool fiber which is not easily'removable by soaping and washing. Again, the emulslfication of hydro- I quinone-treated oil in water beforethe fibers are treated therewith is accompanied by a solution of the hydroquinone in the aqueous phase, with the result that when the emulsion is applied to textile fibers, the hydroquinone rather 10 than being dissolved uniformly in, the oil, is left behind in spotty distribution or dispersion throughout the fibers. Other phenols are either too expensive for practical application, give risealso to undesirable coloration on the fibers, are 1 characterized by offensive odor, or are otherwise ill-suited for the purpose in question. After extensive research and experimentation, I have discovered that alpha naphthol is not only ex-' tremely eilective as an inhibitor of the oxidation 20 'of oils containing unsaturated fatty acids or fatty acid glycerides, but further that it is without such faults as render most of the phenols unsatisfactory. Thus, alpha naphthol is quite soluble in the oils, does not discolor fibers notlce- 2 ably in the concentrations under which it is applied, has a. mild unobjectionable antiseptic odor,

. and is practically insoluble in water. This latter quality means that when oil treated with alpha naphthol is emulsified in water, the alpha naphthol remains dissolved in the dispersed oil particles rather than appearing in the continuous aqueous phase, wherefore, the application of such an emulsion to the fibers followed by the evaporation of'the water content leaves an-oil residue 35 wherein the alpha naphthol is substantially uniformly distributed. In carrying out the imvestigations leading to the present invention, I examined many phenols. Illustrative of the best phenols are the following ones which are given in .the order of increasing effectiveness as inhibitors of oil oxidatiom-ortho-ctesol, paracresol, hydroquinone, nieta-cresol, resorcinol, thymol and beta naphthol. Despite the fact that I the foregoing phenols may .have some value as inhibitors of oil oxidation, nevertheless the'inq hibitor of the present invention, namely, alpha naphthol, is many times as effective as the best one in the foregoing list, namely, the beta naphthol. While some polyhydroxy phenols, and more particularly catechol and pyrogallol, may have an inhibiting effect comparable to that of alpha naphthol, nevertheless catechol is not only higher ipriced but effects a brown coloration on textile a fibers and is highly soluble in water, whereas pyrogallol is faulty for the same reasons and the additional reason that it emits an acrid odor.

It is posible to use oleaginous compositionsembodying the present invention in various ways. Thus, one may use a single oil of vegetable or animal origin containing unsaturated fatty acids or fatty acid glycerides or blends of various such oils together with, if desired, such diluent mineral oils aspetroleum oil or diluent saturated fatty acid or fatty acid glyceride oils. A typical oleaginous composition falling within the purview of the present invention for spraying upon or otherwise oiling down wool and similar textile fibers in loose, bulk form, preparatory to textile-fabricating operations,'may be prepared by blending 60 parts by weight of cottonseed oil, 35 parts of cocoanut oil, and 5 parts of oleic acid or' other fatty acid oil, and dissolving therein about .02 to 2.5 parts of alpha naphthol. component of the oil-blend, namely, the cottonseed oil, falls into the category of so-called semidrying oils. Whereas a similar blend of oils lacking anti-oxidant of the present invention would tend to oxidize on the textile fibers sufficiently so as to create considerable temperature rise in the fibers and the possibility of spontaneous ignition and combustion thereof, the oleaginous composition of the present invention containing alpha naphthol does not engender a noteworthy temperature rise in the fibers treated therewith on account of the highly repressive eifect exercised by the alpha naphthol on the oxidizing tendencies inhering in the unsaturated oil constituents. What I have said about the foregoing oil blend is true also of such other vegetable oils as rapeseed, olive, palm, corn, peanut, etc., or such animal oils as tallow, lard, sperm, etc., any one or a blend of which may also be used together with the alpha naphthol in producing a composition answering the purposes of my invention. The oils may, if desired, be sulphonated ones. Indeed, my invention applies to any oil or oil blend containing unsaturated fatty acid and/or fatty acid glyceridewhich, in the absence of an inhibitor of oxidation, undergo oxidation under atmospheric influence with the evolution of heat.

Rather than applying the oleaginous composition of the present invention as .such to the textile fibers, the composition may first be properly emulsified in Water and then applied to the fibers. Thus, the oil or oil blend containing the alpha naphthol dissolved therein may be added with suitable mixing to the usual amount of water, for instance, in the proportion of one part by weight to three parts of water containing an emulsifying agent or stabilizer either previously prepared or formed in situ in the water by slight saponification of the oil or oil blend. The presence of a small amount of such saponifying agents as ammonia, triethanolamine, caustic soda, borax, or the like in the water, say, 0.1% to 2% of ammonia, is all that is necessary to furnish by reaction with the oleaginous composition sufficient soap emulsifying agent to ensure the desired emulsification and stabilization of the composition. As already indicated, the alpha naphthol remains dissolved in the emulsified or dispersed phase of the resulting emulsion on account of its insolubility in the aqueous or con tinuous phase. The resulting emulsion may be app1ied, as by spraying, to the textile fibers preparatory to textile-fabricating operations.

In some instances, woven or other fabric is .soaked and washed or otherwise treated for the The preponderant purpose of removing oil from the fibers and thus permitting such finishing treatments as dyeing, sizing, etc., to be performed to best advantage, that is, upon fabric which does not repel aqueous dyeing or sizing materials. In such case, the fabric is sometimes oiled after the dyeing, sizing or the like, so as to present such qualities as smoothness, softness and enhanced weight. Even though the'presence of oil in the fabric may not give such trouble as undesirable temperature rise, oxidation of the unsaturated oil constituents may cause gumming, discoloration, rancidity, or foul odor, or other damage in the fiber, whether the fabric be wool, worsted, cotton, linen, artificial or real silk, etc. v Delicate fabrics, such as silk, are especially susceptible to damage in this way. By using about 0.02% to 2% of alpha naphthol in' fabric-finishing oils, which are usually sulphonated oils of the nature of castor, olive, tallow, or the like, it is possible to minimize such damage. As in the case of the oils used for treating the loose, bulk fiber, the finishing oils may, if desired, be emulsified in water before they are applied to the fabric. In the case of. loose, bulk fiber which has been oiled accordant with the present invention and the oil thus incorporated retained up to thefinished goods so as to dispense with the need of any oiling of the finished goods, the alpha naphthol not only serves to inhibit undesirable temperature rise in the loose, bulk fiber, but also to preserve the fiber and the finished goods against such injurious effects as gumming, staining and rancidity and foul odor.

Inasmuch as there is no generic expression to include both unsaturated fatty acid and unsaturated fatty acid glyceride, either or both of which treating textile fibers with the resulting emulsion, 1

said alpha naphthol, by virtue of its solubility in said oil and its practically water-insoluble character, tending to remain substantially uniformly distributed through the oil residue left on 'the fibers when the water content of said emulsion is evaporated.

2. A process which comprises dissolving alpha naphthol in an oleaginous composition comprising unsaturated fatty-acid-containing oil in the amount of about 0.02% to 2.5% by weight'of the composition, emulsifying the oleaginous solution in water containing an emulsifying agent to produce an emulsion in whose dispersed oil particles the alpha naphthol remains substantially completely dissolved, and treating textile fibers-with the resulting emulsion, said alpha naphthol, by virtue of its solubility in said oil and its practically water-insoluble character, tending to remain substantially uniformly distributed through the oil residue left on'the fibers when the water content of said emulsion is evaporated.

3. Textile fibers treated with an aqueous emul- $1011 of an oleaginous composition comprising an 75 dation of said unsaturated oil, said alpha naphl thol, by virtue of its solubility in said oil and its practically water-insoluble character, tending to remain substantially uniformly distributed through the oil residue left on the fibers when the water content of said emulsion is evaporated.

4. Textile fibers treated with a stabilized aqueous emulsion of an oleaginous composition comprising unsaturated fatty-acid-containing oil,

substantially only the dispersed oil particles containing dissolved therein alpha naphthol in the amount of about 0.02 to 2.5% by weight of the oleaginous composition as an inhibitor of the oxidation of said unsaturated oil, said alpha naphthol, by virtue of its solubility in said oil and its practically water-insoluble character, tending to remain substantially uniformly distributed through the oil residue left on the fibers when the water content of said emulsion is evaporated.

AUGUSTUS H. GILL. 

